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Meet a Mom Around the Sound: Rachel in Tacoma

We’re thrilled to bring you our latest Mom Around The Sound present by our friends at Molen Orthodontics. The caring team at Molen loves to celebrate moms who bring smiles to their family, friends, and community.

This month, meet Rachel, a mom of 3 who shares about her passion for kids in Uganda, her family’s rules for technology, and where she goes to shop by the pound!

Tell us about your family.
My name is Rachel, and I am a mama to three, Aiden (17) has one foot out the door on his way to college next year, Isabella (13) is my creative, top of the pyramid flying cheerleader, and Owen (10) my 1unicycle riding daredevil who is willing to try anything in the extreme at least once! I’ve been married to my husband Mike for 18 years.

Tell us about yourself. What are your passions, dreams or goals?
Five years ago, our family started sponsoring a child in Africa through World Vision. In August 2014, I was able to travel to Uganda to meet our sponsored child Moses and his family. I saw first hand the work that World Vision does in other countries. Since then, I have been passionate about child sponsorship and increasing awareness of what life is like for children and families in sub Saharan Africa. Through my blog, I have been able to help find sponsors for children in nearly 100 countries in Africa. Through this platform, I am able to tell the stories of those children and families that I met in Uganda, and then later, the ones I met in Zambia on a separate trip. It’s humbling that they have entrusted me with their stories. It’s a dream of mine to live in Africa and bring hope to the hopeless. Until then, I’m thankful that I get to help others connect with children who need sponsors that give them the boost that they need to end the cycle of poverty.

What parts of parenting have been most rewarding, surprising, or challenging for you?
I have been surprised at how much I have enjoyed having teenagers! I think that most people will tell you how difficult parenting teens is. I’ve heard it said, “Little kids, little problems; big kids, big problems.” While the choices and decisions that our big kids make affect so much more of their future, my husband and I are thankful that we have a faith that enables us to leave our worries with the Creator. That frees us up so much more to enjoy our children knowing that God already has their futures mapped out and planned.

One of the most challenging things that we have faced has been technology. We have been quite strict with technology and how we have eased into it (one of my most popular posts has been the teenage cell phone contract that we wrote when we gave our oldest son his first cell phone at 14) because there are so many unknowns. As parents we have learned that it’s far easier to loosen the reigns than it is to give our kids full access to something and then tighten things up again. This parenting thing is hard, but the word we come back to often as we parent our children is to parent with intention.

Tell us about your community. How long have you lived in the South Sound? What about your town do you love?
I grew up in Indiana but have called the South Sound my home for almost 16 years. I’m not going to lie, I don’t always love our longwinters, but the summers are fantastic! I love living near the water and being able to spend time at the beach. I enjoy being able to walk with my dog to Starbucks on a lazy weekend or drive into the city and explore the cute little shops downtown. We feel very strongly about giving back and volunteering is something we spend a lot of time doing together as a family. I am thankful for the opportunities that we have had to do that and the ways in which we have been able to get our children involved. From making pillowcases for kids with cancer, to walking for water to raise funds and awareness for clean water in Africa on Ruston way, to making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every week for the children, men and women at Tacoma Rescue Mission, we have appreciated the opportunities to get involved in our community and with the people around us.

Tell us about your favorite South Sound things. What are the go-to spots for your family?
When my kids were little I loved taking them to the Pt. Defiance zoo or downtown to ride the trolley and going to the Farmer’s Market and Children’s Museum. My oldest son is obsessed with Memo’s Mexican food in Tacoma. He will drive out of his way with his friends for a good taco. I also love to take the kids on a “scavenger hunt” to the Goodwill Outlet off of Pine street. I wrote a few tips for the first timer. You never know what you are going to find at the Goodwill outlet, and it’s never too expensive when you pay by the pound! My daughter and I love to explore some of the shops in Tacoma like The Modern Cottage Company, Paper Luxe, Urban Xchange and Evolve Home. In the summer, we love Dash Point State Park.

Tell Us About Your Site
More than six years ago I started a blog called Holy Craft. I was already writing a family blog and updating it with our life as a family of five mostly because we had so many out of town family and friends. It slowly started to get taken over by craft projects and tutorials so I decided to start a blog that became my outlet for craft projects and it’s slowly evolved into more than that. I now write about living well on less, family, parenting, food and fitness, trash to treasure projects , and of course I still share craft and DIY projects and tutorials. There is something for everyone at Holy Craft!

Comments

Great feature! I just discovered Rachel’s blog yesterday & I’m looking forward to checking it out more! My husband is a big Memo’s lover too – one of his favorite Mexican places in Tacoma. I’ll have to check out the Goodwill outlet!